Electric iron



Oct. 20I 1925. 1,558,077

Aj R. cHEEsL-:MAN

ELECTRIC IRON Filed Jan. 5. 1924 /9 /W/NTR R. C/-fff/WN.

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Patented Oct. 20, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

aunar RANDOLPH CHEESEMAN,

OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

ELECTRIC IRON.

Application led January 5, 1924. Serial No. 684,565.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALBERT RANDOLPH QH .sEMAN, a subject of the King of Great Bri in, and a resident of the city of Toronto, in the county of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Irons, of which the following is the specification.

My invention relates to improvements in electric irons, and the object of the invention is to devise simple means for automatically cutting oft' the current when the heat of the iron rises above a certainK predetermined temperature, thereby eliminating danger of fire, the deterioration of the iron through over heating, and consequent wastel of current, and the danger of scorching of the articles being ironed, and it consists essentially of the arrangement and construction of* parts hereinafter more particularly explained.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an iron body showing the casing broken away to exhibit my device applied to the iron.

Fig. 2 is a lplan view of the iron body with the casing removed.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view through lthe iron at the heel end.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the circuit opening and closing lever.

Fig. 5 is a modified construction of finger contact and its support. i

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

v1 indicates the bottom of the iron, consisting of an ironing plate and the body 2 secured to the ironing plate and within which is located a heating element of an usual construction, the terminals of whic I have illustrated at 3 and 4.

5 is a plate of insulating material such as mica, the plate 5 being secured to the body 2 by screws 6.

7 is a slot formed in the plate 5 through which the terminal end 4 of the heating element extends.

8 isa plate of insulating material secured to the heel end of the iron at one side thereof against which is secured a metal iece 9 of conductingy material, such piece ing preferably right angular in form and secured in osition by a correspondingly grooved bloc of insulating material 10 secured to the heel end of the iron as illustrated at 11. A

A vertical portion of the piece 9 extends upward and is provided with an orice 12. The opposite end of the piece 9 projects inward from the block 10, the terminal end 3 of the heating element being secured to such projecting end as illustrated at 13.

A circuit breaking and making lever is provided, divided into two portions 14 land 15, the portion 15 being in the form of a sleeve provided with a lining of insulating material 16, into which extends the lever member 14, being secured therein by screws 16", as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The outer end of the lever member 15 is connected by a link 17 to the `forward end of the iron 'body 2'by a pin 18. Usually the body 2 is formed of iron and the link 17 is formed of brass or other metal having a greater co-efficient of expansion than iron.

The lever formed by the members 14 and 15 is pivoted at 19 to theiron body 2 at a point adjacent to the end of the link 17. It will thus be seem that the link oper` ates upon the short arm of the lever so as to multiply movement in the' opposite end which is provided with a projecting finger 20 which extends through the orifice 12 so as to fit the same and is of such a form that when the lever is swung it will withdraw from such orifice, remaining in contact with the sides of they orifice until entirely withdrawn therefrom.

21 is a strip of ribbon wire wh-ich is secured to the member 14 of the circuit making and breaking lever. A

22 and 23 are the terminal `pins carried by the iron and of the usual construction, the lower end of the pin extending into the interior of the casing and to which the u per ends of the terminal 4 of the heating unit and the upper end' of the ribbon wire 21 are respectively connected.

It will thus be seen that when a circuit is c'losed by the finger 20 extending through the perforation 12, that such circuit extends from the terminal pin 23 through the ribbon wire 21, lever member 15, finger 20, piece 9 of conducting material to one terminal end 3 of the heating element, the circuit then passing through the heating element to the other terminal end 4 which 1s connected to the other terminal pin 22.

. that when the iron has become heate Y When the iron becomes heated during use, the metal in the iron expands but the metal of the link 17' being formed of brass or other material having similar qualities, has a greater rate of explansion than the iron and therefore swings t e short arm of the lever member outward, such movement being multi lied in the lon arm of the lever so that tlie finger 20, as t e link 17 expands, is gradually drawn through the perforation 12.

The length of the finger'20 is so adfjusted to a predetermined temperature, .such as an ordinary ironing tem rature, such finger withdraws from the orifice 12 so as to break contact, thereby breaking the circuit through the heating element of the iron.

As the iron cools, a reverse operation takes place, the link 17 contracting at a greater rate than the contraction of the iron body and therefore swings forward the members 14 and 15 in the opposite direction, carrying the finger 20 again into the orifice 12 so as to again make contact, enabling the tem erature of the iron to again rise unti the re uired limit has been reached.

n Fig. 5 I have shown a modified construction of finger in which. the outer end of the lever member 15 is provided with an internally threaded orifice 24, (see Fig. 5) in which is screwed a screw in 25. 26 is a, pin formed to fit the ori ce 12 and having a flexible connection such as illustrated at 27 to the screw 25 to permit the pin 26 sliding inwardly and outwardly of the orifice 12 when the lever member 14 is swung in one direction or the other.

By the emplo ment of the screw in the oint at w ich the contact is roken mayie varied, in other words, the temperature at which the current is cut out from the heating element may bevaried to suit conditions. For instance, the ordinary ironing temperature which is used for domestic ironing is higher than what would be used for the reviving of furs,

and by the employ-l ment of my ad'ustable finger the contact may be ad]uste so that the iron may be used for one purpose or the other whenever r uired.

e(what I claim as my invention is:

l. In an electric iron, the combination with the body and the element thereof, of a stationary contact carried by the body and connected to one element terminal, a movable contact also carriedby the body and connected with the other terminal, a

mono-metal rigid bar connected to the iron bod at one end and to the movable contact at t 1e o posite end and capable of expansion longitu inally in its own plane when sub- 'ected to heat whereby the movable contact rakes contact with the stationary contact during the expansion of the bar and makes contact durin the contraction of the bar.

2. In an e ectric iron, the combination with the body thereof and the heating element, of a stationary contact carried by the body connected to one terminal of the element, a swinging lever, a movable contact carried by the lever and insulated therefrom and coacting with the stationary contact, a rigid' mono-metal bar connected at one end to the iron body and at the opposite end to the opposite end of the lever and capable of expansion longitudinally in its own plane when subjected to heat.

3. n an electric iron, the combination with the body thereof and the heating element, of a stationary contact carried by the body connected to one terminal of the element, a swinging lever, a movable contact carried by the lever and insulated there.- from and coacting with the stationary contact, a rigid mono-metal bar connected at one end to the iron body and at the opposite end to the opposite end of the lever and capable of expansion longitudinally in its own plane when subjected to heat, and means for adjusting the movable contact of the lever to and from the stationar contact. ALBERT RANDOLPH CHEES MAN. 

